Press-plate.



A. W. FRENCH,

PRESS PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR-28, 1915.

Patented Feb. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Q 5 :1 L I. R

Mfiveaaea. N- 04- 'W MQUL A. W. FRENCH.

PRESS PLATE. APPLlCA TION FILED APR.28. m5. 1,256,676. Patented Feb. 19,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mvrann ALFRED w. rnnncn, or PIQUA, OHIO.

PRESS-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, rare.

Application filed April 28, 1915. Serial No. 24,512.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED W. FRENCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Piqua, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Press-Plates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to press plates of the kind whichare used inpresses for expressing oil bearing meal or material, and between whichthe previously formed cakes of meal are placed.

Cotton seed meal has been found to have a much greater tendency to creepor spread laterally when compressed between plates in this way thanlinseed meal, and the plates employed in most types of cotton seedpresses for operating on previously formed cakes have heretofore beenconstructed so as to provide substantially box-like structures whichtelescope so that the walls thereof prevent the cake from spreadingwhile being compressed. It has been found'that by providing ampledrainage means for the oil at short intervals on the surface of thepressplatcs, the tendency of the meal to creep is greatly decreased, sothat by constructing the plates as hereinafter described platesoccupying less space in the press can be used, thereby considerablyincreasing the capacity of the press. The plates thus formed can also beused to advantage pn linseed presses sothat a press equipped withtheseplates is adapted for use either for cotton seedor linseed meal.

The objects of this invention are to produce a press plate of this kindwhich is so constructed as to enable the oil to drain quickly from allparts of the cake but is nevertheless of materially less thickness thanthe plates heretofore used, and which can be used either for expressingcotton seed or linseed oil; also to provide plates of this kind withcompression strips of improved construction which are arranged at theedge portions of theplates on the opposite faces thereof to confine theedge portions of the cake and resist the spreading thereof and tofacilitate the placing of the'cake in proper position between the pressplates; also to provide the press plate with a surface of such characteras to cause the press cloth to cling-or adhere to the plate withoutdamaging the texture of the cloth and to prevent the cloth from beingstrained or broken by the spreading of the oil bearing material underaressure; also to improve the construction of apparatus of this kind inthe respects hereinafter mentioned.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a pressplate embodying the invention, with the mat plate partly broken away toshow the lower 7 or supporting plate.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of two press plates showing thesame in the positions which they occupy relatively to each other beforecompressing the cakes.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing two plates in the position which theyoccupy after the cakes have been compressed.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a press plate on line 55,Fig. 1, onan enlarged scale.

Fig. (Sis a fragmentary bottom plan view of the mat plate.

Fig. 7 is a fra gmentary sectional elevation of a press plate on afull-sized scale, on line 7T, Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary plan view thereof on the samescale as Fig. 7,showing the surface grooving of the plates.

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional elevation of two press plates providedwith compression strips of modified construction.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevation of two pressplates provided with compression strips of another modified form. Y

The press plate comprises a main or supporting plate A and a smallerplate or mat B secured on the face thereof. In the construction shown,the mat B is secured to the upper face of the main plate by suitablemeans, such as screws or the like a. The main plate A is provided withthe usual notched portions a a near the front and rear corners thereoffor th usual. links (not shown) which connect adjacent plates, or theplate can be provided with any other suitable means for connection withadjacent the drainage of the oil. The oil enters the.

channelsthrough a plurality of small perforations d in the upper plate,the perforations being preferably enlarged below the upper end portionsthereof to enable them to be more readily cleared of fine particles ofvmeal entering therein with the oil and'prevent the meal from collectingin and clogging the perforations. Alarge number of theseperforations aredistributed over the surface of the upper plate at short intervals so asto afiord a rapid draining of the oil' from the cake and thereby preventthe spreading of the sides of'the cake. The facilities'for rapidlydraining the oil from the cake'inakes it possible to dispense with theside walls usually employed in connec-' tion with cotton seed presses,so that the amount of vertical space occupied by one of these plates isgreatly reduced, thus increasing the capacity of the press.

The press plates are provided at opposite sides with compression or cakeretaining strips or dams which serve to resist the spreading of the sideedge portions of the cake and thus prevent the forming of soft orinsufiiciently compressed parts at the edges of the cake. In theconstruction shown for this purpose, compression strips E are secured onthe upper sides of the press plates and corresponding strips F aresecured to the undersides of the plates. The compression strips may besecured to the plates-in any suitable manner, for example by means ofrivets e and f. The upper compression strips E are preferably, as shown,riveted on'themat 13 while the lower strips are separately riveted ontothe main plate, and t-he'compression strips are preferably so made as totelescope ,or lie one partly within the other when adjacent plates areclose together. F or this purpose the strip E, as shown in Figs. 3 and4, is

provided with an upwardly extendinglip e adapted to extend u beside thebeveled inner edge 7 on the ac jacent strip F when the plates are closetogether, asshown in Fig. 4.

An alternative construction for accomplishing the same result isshown inFig. 9, in which compression strips E and F are secured respectively tothe upper and lower faces of the plate.- One flange or leg of an anglebarG is secured between each strip E and the mat B, and the other flangeextends upwardly forming a darn "or wall to prevent the spreading of themeal'in the cake toward the side of the plate.

In either of the constructions shown, the upper compression strips ofeach plate serve also-to guide the cake when the pressman places thecake into the press by means of the usual cake pan, since the stripscooperatewith thecake pan to guide the same in its movement lengthwiseof the plate, so that the cake of oil bearing material can be of thefull width of the space between the compression strips. Thi insures auniform compression of the cake and prevents the spreading of the edgesof the cake.

The compression strips E and F ,-Sl10W11 in Fig. 10, are of a form whichdo not overlap or telescope as in the case of other described. Pressplates equipped with strips such as shown in Fl 10 are intended moreparticularly for pressing linseed oil and for use with wide press clothswhich project out between the compression strips,

as shown. With the exception of the construction of the compressionstrips, the press plates shown in Figs. Sand 10. are preferably of thesame construction asthose shown in the other figures and above describetIt is desirable to provide the press plates wit 1 surfaces which willprevent the press cloths in which the meal cakes are wrapped from beingspread laterally by l t l spreading or-flow of the meal under pressureand being thereby strained or broken.

For this purpose the upper and'lower surfaces of the press plates areprovided with a large'nuinber of relatively narrow shallow grooves orfurrows I, which, in the construction shown, extend longitudinally andtransversely of the plates. The grooves are preferably arranged inparallel groups or series, each consisting of a plurality of parallelgrooves, thus leaving squaresv of ungrooved orplane surrace between'theintersecting groups or series of grooves, At the intersection of thegroups, of grooves, a number of small pyramids or projections are formedwhich are n'ot large enough topenetrate the press cloth sufiiciently tobreak or lnJtlI'e the same. The oily meal-which is pressed through theinterstices of, the

cloth becomes packed into the grooves and the crevices between thesurface projections f the press plates and forms a more or less stickysurface to which the press cloth clings or adheres and which preventsthe creeping and stretching of the cloth..- A suitable size for thesurface grooves is about The parts of the smooth .surface of the platesprevent the press cloth from adhering one-sixteenth of an inch betweencenters;

in the crevices also assists in preventing the surface projections fromentering the meshes of the cloth deep enough to injure the cloth. Theholes cl leading to the draining channels preferably terminate in thebottoms of the grooves to facilitate draining of the oil. In themanufacture of the press plates, the cloth-engaging surface thereof canbe formed by cutting the grooves in the smooth surfaces of the plates bya suitable cutting tool or in any other suitable way.

Press plates of the kind described can be economically manufacturedsince they are made of two fiat plates, preferably of steel, and ofabout like thickness, and compres sion strips which can also beeconomically made aresecured thereto. The press plates described, formedof the comparatively thin main and mat plates, occupy very much lessspace than those ordinarily used in cotton seed presses, so that by theuse of these plates a greater number of plates can be used in a pressand the capacity of the press is thus very materially increased. Theplates nevertheless afford ample drainage facilities for the readyescape of the oil throughout the area of the cake. By making the platesof steel they can easily be straightened if they become bent, owing tothe operator neglecting to insert a cake between two adjacent plates. Byconstructing the compression strips so that they will telescope or nesttogether when the plates are close together, more complete obstructionis offered to the lateral spreading of the cake when under pressure,than would be offered if the compression strips were merely providedwith flat abutting faces.

"While it is preferred to employ press plates embodying all the featuresdescribed,

yet it Wlll be understood that the invention is not necessarily limitedto all of the features of the construction of the plates shown, sincethe compression strips or the surface grooving could be used on pressplates of other construction, while the press plates having internal oilgrooves formed as described could be used without the compression stri3s and the surface grooving described.

I claim. as my invention:

1. A press plate consisting of two fiat plates arranged face to face,each of said plates being provided with grooves arranged so that thegrooves of one plate register with the grooves of the other plate andform oil draining channels, the upper of said plates having perforationsthrough the same communicating with said channels.

2. The combination of a plate havingoil draining grooves in its uppersurface. a second plate of about equal thickness with the first platemounted on said upper surface and having oil draining grooves in itslower surface registering with the grooves in said first mentioned plateand forming therewith oil draining channels, said second plate havingperforations therethrough communicating with said oil channels. j

5. A press plate for oil presses having a multiplicity of narrow shallowgrooves in its surface, said grooves being adapted to retain smallquantities of Oll meal to form a' surface to which the press clothadheres.

a. A press plate for oil presses having a multiplicity of narrow shallowintersecting surface grooves with relatively abrupt walls adapted toretain therein Oll meal to form a surface to which the press clothadheres.

5. A press plate for oil presses having a multiplicity of narrow shallowsurface grooves arranged in spaced intersecting groups and havingungrooved surface portions between said groups of grooves.

6. A press plate comprising a main plate and a mat late secured togetherface to face, said plates being of substantially equal thickness andprovided in their contacting faces with grooves which register to formoil drainage channels, and said mat plate having perforationstheretl'irough connecting with said channels, and said main plateextending laterally beyond said mat plate.

7. A press plate comprising a main plate and a mat plate securedtogether face to face, said plates being of substantially equalthickness and provided in their contacting faces with grooves whichregister to form oil drainage channels, said mat plate havingperforations therethrough connecting with said channels, and said mainplate extending laterally beyond said mat plate, upwardly projectingstrips secured on the edge portions of said mat plate, and downwardlyprojecting strips secured on the edge portions of said main plate.

8. A press plate comprising a main plate and a mat plate securedtogether face to face, said plates being of substantially equalthickness and provided in their contacting faces with grooves whichregister to form oil drainage channels, and said mat plate havingperforations therethrough connecting with said channels, said pressplate being provided on its upper side with portions projecting upwardlyalong opposite edge portions of said mat plate, and with paralleldownwardly projecting portions on its underside, the upwardly anddownwardly projecting portions ofadjacent press plates cooperating toconfine the material being pressed.

9. A press plate comprising a main plate and a mat plate securedtogether face to face, said plates being of substantially equalthickness and said I-nat plate having perforations lherethrough, Oildrainage channels being formed in the press plate between saidcontacting plates, said main plate extending laterally beyond said1natplate, and said press plate being provided on its upper side Withportions projecting upwardly along opposite edge portions of said 'rnatplate, and with parallel downwardly projecting portions on itsunderside,

the upwardly and downwardly projecting Witnesses C. V B. UPToN, M. M, WnTnoo Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

ALFRED W. FRENCH,

